As I’ve already mentioned, our family loves the Jacksonville Zoo! When we heard about the ZOO Lights , we decided we had to go to celebrate the ending of a great year.
The funny part was that we tried on two separate weekends to go and it was raining! When we finally went, the rain caught us in the middle of the zoo but we still had fun. If anything, the rain, and the reflections made in the puddles created made for some very fun photos.
Dancing in the rain
You can imagine, with the zoo being closed at night, you might not see many animals but we were able to experience the Stingray Bay which was open to the public (it usually costs an additional fee on regular days) and saw some beautiful flamingos who were still enjoying their lagoon as usual.
The rest of the park was lit up with beautiful lights in patterns of animals from the entrance all the way to the Asian Bamboo gardens. Along the way, Christmas music played to get you into the holiday spirit.
Beautiful carousel at night.
The trees played to music near the giraffe area.
The Moon Gate entrance to the Asian Bamboo Garden
There were some surprise visitors as well such as The Grinch who was seen lingering around the Petting Zoo (and handing out green glow sticks!), Disney Princesses were spotted exploring the Range of the Jaguar, and The Jingle Bell Jukebox Revue performing on the lawn among a little Winter Wonderland complete with fires and smores.
This was the first time in a while that I brought my camera to the zoo, and I was so pleased with the results. It inspired me to play around with photography more into 2019. Here’s to 2019! It’s looking bright!
And thank you to Community First who sponsors to many wonderful events in our Jacksonville community.
That Nerdy Mom 